Protective storage and dispensing receptacle



July 16, 1968 w. R. AZIM 3,392,820

PROTECTIVE STORAGE AND DISPENSING RECEPTACLE Filed July 21, 1966 I30 5456 I24 4 4 i V 4.6 22 2 |2|6 o l INVENTOR.

WAKEEM R. AZIM ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,392,820 PROTECTIVESTORAGE AND DISPENSING RECEPTACLE Wakeem R. Azim, 422 S. Oliver,Wichita, Kaus. 67218 Filed July 21, 1966, Ser. No. 566,995 4 Claims.(Cl. 206-1) .ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The present inventionconstitutes a combination storage receptacle for and dispenser of fiatsheet-like material, such as photographic paper and the like. Thereceptacle is generally rectangular and of shallow profile and is madeof an opaqe plastic material so as to be light tight when an accessopening in the top thereof is closed by the cover of similar material.The hinge is a light tight hinge having mating convex and concavemembers. Detachable plate means is provided to keep the members inassembled relation with the convex member having a lip and the lattermeans including a rib that coact to prevent hinge disassembly except ondetachment of the plate means. The lower edges of the front, rear and sie walls are formed to mate with and are joined with peripheral edges ofthe bottom wall to form a light tight rabbet-type joint. The rear wallis upwardly and forwardly inclined to enable ready stacking of papertherein to have the forward edges of the paper upwardly and forwardlyinclined. A resilient latch is pivoted on the front wall for coac-tionwith the cover for releasably retaining the cover closed.

The present invention relates to new and useful improvements inreceptacles for protective storage of light sensitive materials, andmore particularly pertains to a receptacle of such character in which avertical stack of sheet materials can be dispensed and convenientlydispensed therefrom a single sheet at a time, and which includesimproved means for excluding light and/or dust therefrom both when andwhen not light sensitive materials are being removed therefrom.

The primary object of this invention is to provide a light-tight storagereceptacle for vertically stacked sheets of light sensitive materialssuch as photographic paper, film, and the like, such receptacle beingprovided with means whereby the same can be readily opened for theinsertion or removal of sheet materials therefrom, and which when in itsclosed position Will provide reliable exclusion of light and dust fromthe interior thereof.

Still another important Object of the invention is to provide areceptacle of the character specified above such that the intervalduring which the receptacle must be opened for either the insertion orremoval of materials therefrom is minimal, and particularly it is anobjective of this invention to minimize the time necessary for a personto keep the receptacle open while separating and removing a single sheetof material from a stack of such sheet materials within the receptacle.

-It is another object of the present invention to provide a receptacleof the character described above such that the receptacle isparticularly secure against inadvertent opening thereof, and which canbe positively retained in closed position.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a simple andreliable hinge construction for an access door or closure wall such thatno possibility of leakage of eithr light or dust into the receptacle canoccur through such hinge construction.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a receptacleof the character described above which "ice will be simple andeconomical in manufacture, and yet which will be very durable andreliable in use, and in particular it is an object of this invention toprovide such a receptacle wherein virtually all components thereof canbe readily formed from plastic or synthetic resin materials such as byvacuum forming of sheet stock, injection molding, and the like, orformed from sheet metal by deep drawing, and wherein such separatecomponents can be efficaciously assembled.

A broad aspect of the invention involves a receptacle for verticallystacked, uniformly dimensioned, rectangular sheets of flat material,such receptacle being of the type including a generally rectangular andhorizontal bottom wall having opposite side edges and a rear edgeextendiing between the side edges, and having side walls and a rear endwall connected to and extending upwardly from the side edges and therear edge of the bottom wall, respectively, said side walls beingvertical and parallel; and improvement thereof for facilitating removalof individual sheets of material comprising said side walls havingcoplanar rear edges that extend upwardly and forwardly from the rearedge of the bottom wall, and said rear wall being fiat and connectingthe rear edges of the side walls, whereby a vertical stack ofrectangular sheets in the receptacle may be caused, by movement of thelatter such as to impinge forcefully the rear end of such stack againstthe rear wall, to assume a stacked configuration wherein such stack isupwardly and forwardly inclined to project the forward end of each sheetforwardly of all those therebelow.

Still another broad aspect of the invention involves a receptacle of thetype including a receptacle wall having an access opening therethroughwith said wall having an external side against which is disposed amovable closure wall for closing the access opening, said walls beinghingedly connected adjacent the access opening whereby the closure wallmay be swung outwardly from the receptacle wall to open the accessopening; an improved means for hingedly connecting the walls comprisingsaid receptacle wall having an elongated straight groove in the externalside thereof, said groove being generally semi-cylindrical in transverseconfiguration, said closure wall having an enlarged marginal edgeportion having a generally semi-cylindrical configuration on the sidethereof facing the receptacle wall, said marginal edge portion beingslidably received within the groove when the closure wall is positionedto close the access opening, said edge portion of the closure wall beingso constructed and arranged with respect to the groove that the formerturns within the groove on swinging the closure wall from the receptaclewall, and means for limiting turning movement of the edge portion in thegroove, said last means comprising said groove having a portion of itstransverse extent of relatively greater depth to define a stop shoulderat a transverse end of said portion, and said edge portion of theclosure wall having a flange received within said portion of the groove,whereby said flange will engage the stop shoulder to limit swingingmovement of the closure wall.

An important feature of the invention resides in the rear wall of thereceptacle being upwardly and forwardly inclined, whereby a stack ofrectangular and similarly sized sheet materials can be impactedthereagainst on appropriate manipulation of the receptacle to result inthe forward edge of each sheet being projected forwardly to a greaterextent than all the sheets therebelow, whereby the uppermost sheet canbe readily separated from all those therebelow.

Still another important feature of the invention resides in side walls,front and rear walls of the receptacle being integral and formed attheir lower margins so as to join with the bottom wall in a rabbet-likejoint, whereby the advantages are realized of assuring proper mating ofthe bottom wall with the side walls, rear and front walls; the junctureis such as to be especially lightproof because of the tortuous pathlight would have to follow therethrough; the walls can be securedtogether very readily by means of cement, staples, rivets, or the like;and the latch means can be secured to the receptacle in such a manner asnot to involve any likelihood of light entering the receptacle.

Yet another important feature of the invention resides in the meansprovided in connection with the closure wall for effecting aparticularly eflicient light seal for preventing light entering thereceptacle through the access opening, such means comprising a closurewall having a depressed portion which peripherally fits within theaccess opening.

A final important feature to be specifically enumerated resides in theprovision of a light and dustproof hinge means for the hinge connectionbetween the closure wall and the top wall of the receptacle, whereinsuch hinge means involves no openings through the top wall and whereinthe hinge is constituted of a groove in the top wall which oscillatablyreceives a marginal edge of the closure wall that is generallycomplementary to the groove.

These and other objects, aspects and features of the invention willbecome apparent during the following description of a preferredembodiment of the invention, such description to be taken in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a top plan view of a receptacle according to the invention,with hidden details of construction being shown in dashed outline;

FIGURE 2 is a vertical sectional view taken upon the plane of the brokensection line 22 shown in FIG- URE 1;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional detail view takenupon the plane of the section line 33 in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is a view similar to FIGURE 3; however, this view showing thepositions assumed by the structure on the closure wall being swung tothe open position;

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary exploded perspective view of the hingeconstruction;

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged fragmentary detail view illustrating one of thelips provided for preventing separation of the parts of the hingeconstruction; and

FIGURE 7 is a fragmentary front elevational view of a central portion ofthe receptacle illustrating in full lines the latch structure inlatching position, and illustrating in dashed outline the position ofthe latch in the unlatched position.

Referring now to the drawings, wherein like numerals designate likeparts throughout the various views, the reference numeral 10 designatesthe receptacle of the present invention generally.

The receptacle 10 comprises a bottom wall 12 of substantially uniformwall thickness and preferably made of an opaque synthetic resin materialsuch as polystyrene, polyethylene, acrylate resins, phenolic resins, andthe like. The synthetic resin material constituting the bottom Wall 12can incorporate therein opaque filler material such as to enhance theopaqueness thereof. If the synthetic resin selected for the bottom wall12 is sufficiently opaque in and of itself in the thickness employed,the use of a filler material is of course unnecessary; however, if thesyntheic resin is transparent or translucent, it is preferred that anopaque filler material be incorporated in the synthetic resin in asufficient concentration to achieve a desired degree of opacity(preferably of black color because of a psychological or subjectivereason, black seems to be opaque, and for the further and better foundedreason that the high absorptivity of black will tend to attenuate anylight passing through any joint). The particular filler can be such asthose conventionally employed in paints to increase the opacity thereofand can, for example, be

carbon black, color pigments, titanium oxide, barium or lead sulphate,lead sulfide, or metallic lead dust. Opacity must in this connection beconsidered in relationship to the character of radiation to which thereceptacle 10 is to be subjected and the sensitivity characteristics ofthe contents of the receptacle 10. For example, if the receptacle 10 isto be exposed to X-rays and the receptacle 10 is to be used for thestorage of materials sensitive to X- rays, the bottom wall 12 should beselected so as to substantially attenuate the passage of X-raystherethrough (this can be accomplished readily by making the wall 12sufficiently thick and inclusive of lead or compounds thereof inrelation to the hardness of the X-rays).

The bottom wall 12 is preferably, though not necessarily, ofsubstantially uniform wall thickness throughout its extent, and is aboutits entire periphery provided with an integral marginal portion thatinitially is downwardly extending as at 14, thence horizontally andoutwardly extending as at 16, and finally is downwardly extending as at18 to terminate in a horizontal and coplanar edge 20. A centralrectangular area of the bottom wall 12 is depressed as indicated at 22below an annular (actually rectangular rather than circular) coplanararea 24 of the bottom wall 12 that intervenes between the annularperipheral margin of the bottom wall 12 and the depressed centralportion 22 of the bottom wall 12 to surround the depressed central area22. It is to be understood that a stack of rectangular sheet materialssuch as indicated at 26 in FIGURE 2 can rest upon the bottom wall 12 andbe supported thereby in such a manner as to be spaced above thecentrally depressed portion 22 of the bottom wall 12; this relationshipbeing important for reasons to be brought forward subsequently.

As thus far described, it will be clear that the bottom wall 12 has aconfiguration such as to readily yield to fabrication thereof from flatsheet stock of a suitable thermoplastic synthetic resin by vacuumforming techniques.

The receptacle 10 also includes integral side walls 28 and 30, rear wall32, front wall 34 and top wall 36. The walls 28, 30, 32, 34 and 36 arein the preferred construction of substantially uniform wall thicknessand are formed of the same type of material such as indicated assuitable for the bottom wall 12. The side walls 28 and 30 are generallyparallel to each other, but can if desired be slightly convergentupwardly so as to more readily yield to vacuum forming or other formingtechniques from flat sheet material stock. The rear edges of the sidewalls 28 and 30 are upwardly and forwardly inclined and joined byupwardly and forwardly inclined rear wall 32, as clearly shown in FIGURE2. The upper edges of the side walls 28 and 30 and the upper edges ofthe rear and front walls 32 and 34 are integrally joined by the top wall36 as shown in FIGURE 2, and the forward end edges of the side walls 28and 30 are integrally joined by the front wall 34, also as clearly shownin FIGURE 2. The front wall 34 can if desired be inclined slightlyrearwardly and upwardly from the vertical in order to facilitatemanufacturing, as previously indicated with respect to side walls 28 and30. Thus, the walls 28, 30, 32, 34 and 36 are integral and thehorizontal extent of the side walls 28 and 30 and the front and rearwalls 34 and 32 are unbroken and continuous. The unbroken and continuousextent of the lower margins of the walls 28, 30, 32 and 34 are formedwith a continuous outwardly offset flange 40, such flange 40 terminatingat its lowermost extent in a continuous edge 42 that is coplanar withthe previously mentioned coplanar edge 20 of the bottom wall 12.

As clearly shown in FIGURE 2, the bottom wall 12 is received within theoffset flange 40 defined about the lowermost edges of the walls 28, 30,32 and 34 and seats against the inner sides of such walls and the offsetflange 40 along a tortuous or zigzag zone of contact in the nature of arabbet joint 44. The rabbet-like joint 44, since it constitutes surfacescontacting about double bends is quite efficient insofar as exclusion ofany light from the interior 46 of the receptacle is concerned.Furthermore, it will be readily appreciated by those skilled in the artthat such continuous joint about the entire lower periphery of thereceptacle 10 positively assures proper alignment of the two integralcomponents (one component being. comprised of the bottom wall 12, andthe other of such two components being comprised of walls 28, 30, 32, 34and 36), and the limits the extent to which the bottom wall 12 can beinserted during assembly. Furthermore, it will be appreciated that thetwo coplanar edges 22 and 42 each make substantial contributions to thesupport of the receptacle 10 upon a planar support, not shown. Permanentassembly can be readily accomplished by simply coating one or both ofthe peripheral contacting portions of the rabbet-like joint 44 prior topressing the bottom wall 12 within the annular confines of the offsetflange 40. The choice of a suitable cement will depend upon thesynthetic resin constituting the joined materials, and a suitable choiceis deemed well within the skill of the art. When the materials joined atthe rabbet like joint 44 are thermoplastic synthetic resins,conventional heat welding techniques can be employed about the lowermostperipheral extent of the rabbet-like joint, that is, along the edges 22and 42. Rather than utilizing a cement or adhesive, or utilizing heatwelding or heat bonding techniques, the bottom wall 12 can be secured tothe offset flange 40 by the application of a plurality of rivets orstaples (not shown) through the rabbet-like joint 44.

The top wall 36 is provided with a rectangular access opening having aforward edge 50 parallel to and closely spaced to the front wall 34, anda rear edge 52 at a position spaced intermediate the rear and frontwalls 32 and 34 as shown in FIGURE 2, it being understood that therectangular access opening has side edges spaced from the side walls 28and 30. A closure wall 54 is provided for closing the access opening andthe closure wall 54 overlies the access opening as shown in FIGURE 2when the closure wall 54 is in closing position. The closure wall 54 ispreferably made of the same sort of materials and by the samemanufacturing techniques as previously set forth in connection with thewalls 12, 28, 30, 32, 34 and 36. As clearly shown in FIGURE 2, theclosure wall 54 is preferably of substantially uniform wall thickness.

The closure wall 54 is provided with relatively depressed strips orareas 56 and 58 that are elongated and in parallelism to the edges 50and 52 of the access opening and are so spaced as to be received withinthe access opening with a running clearance along the edges 50 and 52.Similarly, depressed strips or areas 60 and 62 are provided whichconnect between the opposite ends of the depressed strips 56 and 58 inparallelism with the side walls 28 and 30 for being received within theaccess opening with close running tolerance to the opposite side edgesof the access opening. If desired, the entire area of the closure wall54 directly overlying the access opening can be depressed rather thansimply the peripheral strips or margins 56, 58, 60 and 62. Therelationship of the depressed areas 56, 58, 60 and 62 to the accessopening is such as to constitute a more effective light seal by theclosure wall 54 as against entry of light into the interior 46 of thereceptacle 10 through the access opening.

The closure wall 54 can be moved from the position shown thereof closingthe access opening to a position wherein the closure wall 54 has beenswung or pivoted to a substantially vertical position from thehorizontal position shown thereof, whereby materials such as the sheetmaterials 26 can be inserted into and removed from the receptacle 10.The means for establishing such hinged connection between the closurewall 54 and the top wall 36 will now be described, and for this purposeattention is especially directed to FIGURES 3, 4 and 5.

The top wall 36 is provided with a transversely extending elongatedgroove 60 in the top or external surface thereof. The groove 60 issubstantially semi-cylindrical in transverse section throughout thelongitudinal extent of the groove 60. The groove 60 is positioned at aposition intermediate and spaced from the rear wall 32 and the rear edge52 of the access opening. The rear marginal portion of the closure wall54 is formed as a semi-cylindrical shell 70 having a concave upper side72, and a semi-cylindrical lower side 74 that is received within andwhich is substantially complementary to the groove 60 when the closurewall 54 is in the position thereof closing the access opening (seeFIGURE 3). The relationship between the rear marginal portion 70 of theclosure wall 54 to the groove 60 is such that the closure wall 54 can beswung counterclockwise from the position shown thereof in FIGURE 3 aboutthe common center or axis of curvature of the contacting surfaces of thegroove 60 and the portion 70 to open the rectangular access opening thatis defined between the edges 50 and 52. FIGURE 4 shows the closure wall54 swung in such a manner to a vertical position that approaches beingin the limiting position thereof subsequently explained. Thus, therelationship of the groove and the marginal portion 70 is such as toconstitute a hinge or pivot-like connection between the top wall 36 andthe closure wall 54, it being important to note that such hingedconnection does not involve any openings through the top wall such asmight admit light into the receptacle, nor does such hinged connectioninvolve any structure (ears or the like) projecting above the surface ofthe top wall that would interfere with compact and stable stacking of aplurality of receptacles 10.

A combined means is provided for limiting the pivotal or oscillatorymovement of the marginal portion 70 of the closure wall 54 in the groove60 and for preventing relative movement of the marginal portion withrespect to the groove 60 in a direction paralleling the longitudinalextent of the groove 60. Limiting of the pivotal or oscillatory movementis desirable in order to limit swinging movement of the closure wall 54in such a manner that the closure wall 54 will be nearly vertical butinclined slightly to the rear upwardly from the top wall 36 in such amanner as to remain in the fully open position with a sufficient degreeof stability so as not to require the user to hold the same open whileinserting or removing materials from the receptacle 10. In other words,the closure wall 54 is limited in its pivotal movement so that thecenter of gravity of the closure wall 54 and the structure subsequentlyattached integrally thereto will be slightly to the rear of the groove60 when the closure wall 54 is opened. Such combined means comprises themarginal portion 70 of the closure wall 54 having a pair of rearwardlyextending and spaced flanges and 82 at its rearmost extremity. Therearwardly extending integral flanges 80 and 82 of the closure wall 54extend rearwardly when the closure wall 54 is in the position thereofclosing the access opening as shown in FIGURE 3, and such flanges 80 and82 extend downwardly and forwardly when the closure wall 54 is swung toits limited and fully open position (somewhat more forwardly than theposition shown of the flange 82 in FIGURE 4).

As clearly shown in FIGURES 3, 4 and 5, grooves and 92 are provided inthe rear and lower portion of the internal surface of the groove 60,such grooves 90 and 92 being spaced from each other along the length ofthe groove 60 and having configurations comparable to the volumes sweptby the flanges 80 and 82 during the swinging movement of the closurewall 54 from the position thereof closing the access opening to thefully open position thereof. In other words, the grooves 90 and 92constitute relatively depressed portions of the groove 60 such as toaccommodate the flanges 80 and 82 during swinging movement of theclosure wall 54. The grooves 90 and 92 have forward ends defining stopshoulders 94 and 96, and such stop shoulders 94 and 96 coactrespectively with the flanges 80 and 82 to limit swinging movement ofthe closure wall 54 as will be clearly evident upon inspection ofFIGURES 3 and 4. The extents of the grooves 90 and 92 is just slightlyin excess of the extent of the flanges 80 and 82 in such direction,whereby the flanges 80 and 82 coact with the sides of the grooves 90 and92 to substantially prevent any movement of the closure wall 54 in thedirection of the longitudinal extent of the groove 60. It will be notedthat the stop shoulders 94 and 96 (see FIG- URES 3 and 4) extendvertically rather than toward the center of curvature or axis of thepivotal connection defined by the groove 60 and the arcuate marginalportion 70 of the closure wall 54, such vertical inclination of the stopshoulders 94 and 96 being effective for the function desired and yetbeing such a structure as to be readily fabricated by vacuum formingtechniques. Obviously, the stop shoulders could extend towards the axisof the pivotal or hinge connection; however, such a provision would tendto complicate or make more diflicult the fabrication of the structure.

Means is provided for preventing inadvertent removal of the marginal orhinge portion 70 of the closure wall 54 from the groove 60. Such meanscomprises the upper surface of the top wall 36 being recessed ordepressed along the rear edge of the groove 60 as indicated at 100, andthe rear portion of a mounting plate 102 is seated in the recess 100 anddetachably secured in such position by threaded fasteners 104 extendingthrough the mounting plate 102 and into the top wall 36 at the bottom ofthe recess 100. The elongated mounting plate 102 projects horizontallyand forwardly over the groove 60 with the forward edge of the mountingplate 102 terminating in a downturned rib 106. The downturned rib 106projects downwardly into the hollow space 108 defined within the concaveside 72 of the arcuate marginal portion 70 of the closure wall 54. Therear edge of the marginal portion 70 is bent forwardly (as seen inFIGURE 3) at spaced positions along the length of such edge to define aplurality of spaced lips 110 that coact with the rib 106 to preventremoval of the marginal portion 70 from the groove 60 except when themounting plate 102 is removed. It is to be understood that the spacingof the free lower edge of the rib 106 from the concave surface 72 of themarginal portion 70 is sufficiently close to prevent passage of the lips110. If desired, the lower free edge of the rib 106 can terminate incloser proximity to the concave surface 72 than as shown, providedsuflicient tolerance is provided for free hinging movement of theclosure wall 54; however, it is preferred that a greater spacing thanmere running clearance or tolerance be provided to obviate anypossibility of binding or jamming of the hinged connection.

It is to be especially noted that the entire configuration of the hingeconstruction is such that vacuum forming manufacturing processes can beemployed to make all the components thereof. The entire structurerelating to the groove 60 is an integral part of and made of the samematerials as the top wall 36, and similarly the entire structurerelating to the marginal portion 70 is integral with and made of thesame material as the enclosure wall 54. In the preferred constructionthe mounting plate 102 is made of the same material as the top wall 36and the closure wall 54. If desired, the threaded fasteners 104 can alsobe of plastic, such as nylon; however, metallic screws are employed.Inasmuch as there is very little if any possibility of it ever beingnecessary to disassemble the receptacle by removing the plate 102, thelatter can if desired be permanently cemented by any suitable adhesive(or heat bonded in the case of thermoplastic resins) to adjoining areasof the top wall. It will be apparent also that it is possible to employrivets, rather than screws 104, if desired.

The side and forward edges of the closure wall 54 are provided withintegral depending flanges 120, 122 and 124 that are made of the samematerial as the closure wall 54, such depending flanges 120, 122 and 124being disposed, when the closure wall 54 is in position closing theaccess opening, in closely spaced relationship to the exterior of theside walls 28 and 30 and the front wall 34 respectively. Such flanges120, 122 and 124 are integral with each other so as to be U-shaped inhorizontal section and have their lower edges terminating in a planeapproximately at the midpoint of the overall vertical height of thereceptacle 10. In the preferred construction, the portions of the sidewalls 28 and 30 and the front wall 34 overlapped by the flanges 120, 122and 124 are recessed inwardly a sufficient extent to accommodate thethickness of the depending flanges 120, 122 and 124, such feature ofconstruction being clearly shown in FIGURE 2 wherein it will be seenthat the side wall 28 has an inwardly recessed portion to accommodatethe depending flange 120, and the front wall 34 is inwardly recessed at132 to accommodate the depending flange 124.

Means is provided for releasably securing the closure wall in its closedposition, such means comprising an elongated latch member having one endpivotally secured to the lower forward edge of the receptacle 10 by arivet 142 and having its upper end bent to form a latch 144 (see FIGURES2 and 7). The rivet or pivot pin 142, which can be metallic or plastic(the latter case can be such as a nylon pin having its opposite endsupset by local application of heat and pressure), extends through thelower marginal edges of the bottom wall 12 and the front wall 34 at aposition such that no possibility of light entering the receptacle 10 atsuch pivotal connection is possible. The rivet or pivot pin 142 enablesthe latch member 140 to be swung from the latching position shown infull lines in FIGURE 7 in either direction indicated by the arrows tounlatching positions such as the one shown in dashed outline in FIG- URE7. The latch member is formed of fiat leaf spring stock, which can bemetallic or a resilient synthetic resin or plastic, so that the upperend thereof, namely, the end thereof remote from the rivet 142 can bemoved outwardly from the receptacle 10, it being understood that theresilient character of the latch member 140 is such as to have the endthereof remote from the rivet 142 biased against the receptacle 10. Thelower edge portion of the depending flange 124 of the closure wall 54 isoutturned as indicated at 152, and the latch portion 144 of the latchmember 140 is engaged over such outturned portion 152 when the latchmember 140 is in the full line position shown thereof in FIGURE 7.Accordingly, when the latch member 140 is in the full line positionsshown thereof in FIGURES 2 and 7, the closure wall 54 is prevented frombeing moved from its access opening-closing position. When it is desiredto raise the closure wall 54 from its access opening-closing position,the free end of the latch member 140 is grasped by the fingers andpulled from the receptacle 10 to an extent sufiicient to clear theoutturned portion 152 of the depending flange 124, at which time theclosure wall 54 can be raised, and if it is desired, the latch member140' can be swung to its unlatched position shown in dashed outline inFIGURE 7, whereby it is not necessary to concurrently bend the latchmember while raising the closure wall 54.

The operation and use of the receptacle 10 will be readily understood.The latch member 140 is moved from its latching position and the closurewall 54 raised so as to open the access opening. With the closure wall54 in its open position, the vertical stack of rectangular sheets ofmaterial (photographic paper, film plates, and the like) 26 is insertedinto the receptacle 10, and the rear edges of the sheets of materialconstituting the stack 26 are caused to bear against the inner surfaceof the rear wall 32. Such rear edges 170 can be caused to individuallybear against the rear wall 32 by pressing a finger against the forwardedges 172 of the individual sheets of material constituting the stack 26(it being noted that the depressed central portion of the bottom wallresults in suflicient space being provided such that the finger can bearagainst allthe sheets in the stack 26), or alternatively, the forwardend of the receptacle can be raised and the receptacle 10 shaken in afore and aft direction so as to impact or impinge the rear end of thestack 26 against the rear wall 32 which will result in impinging theindividual sheets at their rear edges against the rear wall 32 in aforwardly and upwardly cant to the stack 26 as shown in FIGURE 2. Whenthe stack 26 is canted as shown in FIGURE 2 by the use of the pressingof a finger against the forward end of the stack 26, it is of coursenecessary that the closure wall 54 be kept open until such operation iscomplete; however, the closure wall 54 can be closed immediately as soonas the stack 26- has been placed within the re ceptacle 10 when thestack 26 is canted by the procedure of impacting the rear end of thestack 26 against the inner surface of the rear wall 32.

The advantage of the stack of sheet materials 26 being canted as shownin FIGURE 2 resides in the fact that the forward end edge of each sheetof material in the stack 26 projects forwardly above all the forwardedges of the sheets of material therebelow. Thus, the forward edge ofeach successive uppermost sheet of material is projected forwardly to agreater extent than all the other sheets of material and such uppermostsheet of material can be readily separated from those therebelow byengaging such edge by a finger and raising such uppermost sheet by itsforward end portion.

As previously described, the contour of the botom wall 12 is such as tosupport rectangular materials placed therein along one end and along thesides thereof, and the Width of the support along each of the sides issuch that such materials can be so supported even when such materialsare considerably narrower than the spacing of the side walls of thereceptacle 10. Materials considerably shorter than shown in FIGURE 2 canbe properly supported in the receptacle 10 and the operation be such asdescribed. Indeed, the bottom wall 12 can be, if desired or deemedexpedient, entirely flat for the entire internal extent of thereceptacle 10, though this is not preferred as the lowermost sheet orsheets may present a minor (though certainly not serious) degree ofdifiiculty in getting a finger engaged thereunder.

While the use of the receptacle 10 has only been described in connectionwith a single stack of uniformly sized rectangular sheets, it is pointedout that a plurality of stacks can be stacked one upon the other in thereceptacle 10, wherein each separate stack is of uniformly sized sheets,but with the sheets of different stacks being of differing dimensions(width and/or length). In fact, it is most probable that the greatestuse of the receptacle 10 will be in the storage of a plurality ofstacks. In such most probable use, the inclination of the rear wallserves the same function as with a single stack, namely, to cant theforward end of each separate stack forwardly and upwardly, as will beevident. When the various stacks are of differing lengths, the user canselect and separately remove the top or uppermost sheet of any selectedone of the vertical stacks, this being especially easily accomplishedwhen shorter length stacks are stacked upon relatively longer stacks.

The receptacle 10 is of use in protecting and storing any material,rectangular or otherwise, and whether or not such material is fiat. Forexample, the receptacle 10 can be used for storage of rolls or reels ofphotographic film as may be convenient immediately prior to or at somestage during such processing of the film.

If desired, the central part of the portion of the closure wall 54overlying the access opening can be relatively depressed to provide anarea 180 in which can be mounted any suitable label or set ofinstructions, not shown, such as to identify the character of the sheetmaterial stored within the receptacle 10, the procedures to be employedin the use of such materials, etc.

Although it has hereinabove been stressed that with the possibleexception of the threaded fasteners 104, the latch member and the rivet142, all the structure of the receptacle 10 is preferably made of asynthetic resin incorporating such fillers as may be necessary for thedesired degree of opacity, and particularly that the receptacle 10 issuch as to be readily made by a vacuum forming or injection moldingprocesses, it must be abundantly clear to those skilled in the art thatother materials and manufacturing processes can be employed to producethe receptacle .10. Clearly, thermosetting as well as thermoplasticsynthetic resins can be used in conjunction with appropriate molding orpressing process appropriate to the selected resin. The desired degreeof opacity is not necessarily dependent upon incorporating particulatefiller material in the resins, as will be readily appreciated when it isconsidered that the various components of the receptacle 10 can bepressed from heated sheets of a clear thermoplastic material such as anacrylic resin, and after having been formed and cooled, such componentscan be painted on one or both sides with an opaque paint or coated withan opaque material.

Notwithstanding the particularly suitability of the structure of thereceptacle 10 to be made of plastic materials, the receptacle 10 can be,as will be evident to those skilled in the art, made of other materialssuch as metals. For example, the component parts thereof can be stampedwith use of suitable dies from metallic sheet stock, or die cast fromaluminum or suitable alloys of zinc, tin and lead. Indeed, thoughprobably prohibitive in cost, the same can be made of wood, preferablyof cemented very thin layers of wood.

From the foregoing it will be evident that the receptacle 10 iscomprised of very few parts or components, that each of such parts orcomponents are very simple and of such character as to lend themselvesto economical manufacture, that the assembly of such components or partsis especially simple, and that the resulting receptacle 10 is of suchcharacter as to be rugged and durable and very efficient and reliablefor its intended functions. The assembly of the component parts of theillustrated embodiment of the invention involves merely the insertion ofthe bottom wall 12 within the lower peripheral edges of the side walls28 and 30, and the rear and front walls 32 and 34 with the use of anadhesive or suitable cement, securing the latch member 140 with therivet 142, positioning the closure wall 54, and attachment of themountplate 102 with cement or with the threaded fastenersNotwithstanding the foregoing very detailed description of the preferredembodiment of the invention, it is to be understood that such detaileddescription has been given solely for the purpose of conveying acomplete and full understanding of the invention, and that anynarrowness in scope of the invention is not to be thereby implied.Accordingly, attention is directed to the appended claims in order toascertain the actual scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. In a receptacle for vertically stacked, uniformly dimensioned,rectangular sheets of flat material, such receptacle being of the typeincluding a generally rectangular and horizontal bottom wall havingopposite side edges and a rear edge extending between the side edges,and having side walls and a rear end wall connected to and extendingupwardly from the side edges and the rear edge of the bottom wall,respectively, said side walls being vertical and parallel; animprovement thereof for facilitating removal of individual sheets ofmaterial comprising said side walls having coplanar rear edges thatextend upwardly and forwardly from the rear edge of the bottom Wall,said rear wall being flat and connecting the rear edges of the sidewalls, whereby a vertical stack of rectangular sheets in the receptaclemay be caused, by movement of the latter such as to impinge forcefullythe rear end of such stack against the rear wall, to assume a stackedconfiguration wherein such stack is upwardly and forwardly inclined toproject the forward end of each sheet forwardly of all those therebelow,top and front walls closing the receptacle, with one of the last recitedwalls being provided with access means that comprises said one Wallhaving an access opening, a closure wall swingably mounted on said onewall for swinging between positions opening and closing said opening,said side, rear, top and front walls are integral and of substantiallyuniform wall thickness throughout their extents, said bottom wall alsobeing of substantially constant wall thickness, said bottom wall havinga downturned peripheral flange with a pair of opposite double bends insaid peripheral flange such that such peripheral flange extendsdownwardly, thence outwardly and finally downwardly, said side, rear andfront walls having lower and continuous margins that are outwardlyoffset with the peripheral flange of the bottom wall being receivedwithin and engaging the lower and continuous offset margins of the side,rear and front walls in such relationship as to constitute aperipherally extending rabbet-like joint, said peripheral flange beingsecured to the side, rear and front walls to connect the bottom wall tothe latter walls, said one wall being the top wall, said closure wallhaving a continuous depending flange overlapping the front and sidewalls when the closure wall is in its opening-closing position, andlatch means carried in part by said depending flange for releasablysecuring the closure wall in opening-closing position.

2. The combination of claim 1, wherein said latch means includes thedepending flange having a lower and outwardly turned marginal portion, aleaf spring latch having one end pivotally secured to one of the lowerand outwardly offset margins of the front and side walls for pivotalmovement about a horizontal axis between release and latching positions,and said spring latch when in latching position having an upper andsecond end that projects toward the depending flange and is engaged overthe outwardly turned marginal portion of the latter to releasably retainthe closure Wall in the openingclosing position, the arrangement beingsuch that the second end of the spring can be flexed from the dependingflange and swung to release position.

3. In a receptacle of the type including a receptacle wall having anaccess opening therethrough with said wall having an external sideagainst which is disposed a movable closure wall for closing the accessopening, said walls being hingedly connected adjacent the access openingwhereby the closure wall may be swung outwardly from the receptacle wallto open the access opening; an improved means for hingedly connectingthe walls comprising said receptacle wall having an elongated straightgroove in the external side thereof, said groove being generallysemi-cylindrical in transverse configuration, said closure wall havingan enlarged marginal edge portion having a generally semi-cylindricalconfiguration on the side thereof facing the receptacle wall, saidmarginal edge portion being slidably received Within the groove when theclosure wall is positioned to close the access opening, said edgeportion of the closure wall being so constructed and arranged withrespect to the groove that the former turns within the groove onswinging the closure wall from the receptacle wall, means for limitingturning movement of the edge portion in the groove, said last meanscomprising said groove having a portion of its transverse extent ofrelatively greater depth to define a stop shoulder at a transverse endof said portion, said edge portion of the closure wall having a flangereceived within said portion of the groove, whereby said flange willengage the stop shoulder to limit swinging movement of the closure wall,and means for retaining the edge portion of the closure wall in thegroove, said last means comprising the edge portion of the closure wallbeing concave on the side thereof opposite said groove, an elongatedmounting plate secured to the receptacle wall and having an edgedisposed over the groove and the marginal edge portion of the closurewall in the latter, said edge of the plate having a rib thereonextending toward and received within the concave side of the marginaledge portion of the closure wall.

4. The combination of claim 3, including the concave side of themarginal edge portion of the closure wall having an upstanding lipengageable with the rib to prevent removal of the marginal edge portionfrom the groove in the receptacle wall.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 26,248 11/ 1859 Brown 292-646,726 4/1900 Chelimer 206-39 1,213,157 1/1917 Conway 220-31 1,458,1666/1923 Cox 220-32 2,680,534 6/1954 Penfold 220-31 2,852,802 9/1958 Seby16-191 2,981,408 4/1961 Gamble 206-73 3,091,327 5/1963 Lalley 206-1WILLIAM T. DIXSON, JR., Primary Examiner.

